370 days have already passed since, at the request of the president Louis Abinadera dialogue was started with all social sectors for the “institutional strengthening and efficient management of the State”, One year after the opening of the call, there three tables that have not yet completed their work.
Throughout October 2021 and February 2022, the Economic and Social Council (ESC), the entity in charge of coordinating the dialogue, opened 11 themed tables where were treated reforms of the electoral sector, environment and climate change, modernization of public administration, foreign policy and migration.
They were also opened to tables on health, citizen security and police reform, social security, digital transformation, transparency and institutionality, transport and water.
The purpose of these tables was to discuss the various aspects that make up the issues that each of the spaces addresses and that they be the same representatives of the social, labor, business and political sectors that reach consensus and disagreement on the transformations that should be to do and at the end of each one make a report that will be delivered to the ESC and this in turn studies them and sends them to the Executive Power to be sent to the National Congress through bills.
the missing tables
However, environment and migration tables were left behindthe first due to the assassination of the former Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources, Orlando Jorge Merawho coordinated the space, and the second due to the complaints of the members of the table about the lack of proposals from the Government.
In the case of social security deskthis one has met 15 times and, to date, they are still discussing the points that were reflected in a matrix on the modifications that must be made to the Social Security Law 87-01.
Various deadlocks have arisen in this space due to the fact that the representatives of the sectors, social, labor, employer and the government they cannot agree on certain issues such as the possible elimination of the Health Risk Administrators (ARS), an issue that has received total dissent.
Although they did manage to agree to reduce the amount of members of the National Social Security Council (CNSS), and they recently opened the debate on the replacement rate and voluntary savings.
what he says ESC
The executive director of ESC, Iraima Capriles, exhorted the members of the social security table, especially the Minister of Labor, Luis Miguel De Campsthat “as far as possible” take advantage of these meetings and that the discussions at the table end.
“On the part of the CES, we do ask you, as far as possible, to take advantage of these hours that lie ahead in the sense of being able to reach possible consensus and dissent and to be able to generate a document”Capriles pointed out.
He indicated that the tables should be given a closure and that up to the moment of the 11 that were opened, most have finished.
on the table of environmentshe explained that they were able to reach some agreements and that from now on they will try to meet to be able to close that space and have a final report.
Tables that are culminating
Another of the tables that according to Capriles is coming to an end is that of the Water, that it is in the final stage, and that the creation of a follow-up table is being added to the report so that “those issues that have not achieved consensus can continue to be studied on the one hand, and on the other, those that have been agreed, they can be followed up”.
According to Capriles, it is expected that by December the remaining tables will finish their work and that for him month of January, the final report of all the tables is delivered to President Luis Abinader.
It will be in plenary ESC where all the reports of the roundtables should be debated with the consensuses and the dissent would be brought to consensus, but since not all the roundtables have concluded, on repeated occasions the coordination body has called for the culmination of the meetings.
Opening and closing of the tables
The installation of the tables was carried out on October 19, 2021 and this is the opening and closing of each one:
Health: started on February 17 and ended on June 29
Transparency and institutionality: on February 2 and ended on June 6
Electoral: started on January 11 and ended on July 5
Modernization of public administration: started on January 11 and ended on May 20
Digital Transformation: started on January 27 and ended on March 22
Transportation: it opened on February 4 and ended on April 8
Citizen security: It started on February 16 and ended on May 16
Environment: started on February 23; has not yet finished
Social Security: It opened on February 11; not yet finished
Foreign policy: It started on February 14; It is not over
Institutional spaces and the table that did not start
In total, the topics that are part of the dialogue for reforms there are 16, these are divided into 11 themed tables and five institutional spaces.
The themed tables They deal with the following topics: electoral, environment and climate change, reform and modernization of public administration, foreign policy and migration, health, citizen security and police reform, social security, digital transformation, transparency and institutionality, transportation.
The only table that never started was the hydrocarbons one, this at the request of Luis Abinader due to the situation that arose around fuels due to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Likewise, the institutional spaces deal with the issues of water, educational quality, the electrical, fiscal and labor sectors, which are agreements that have been previously discussed between the government, ESC and the institutions that deal with these issues.
